Suction cleaner



Oct. 15, 1940- BENSON 2,218,035

sucwx on CLEANER Filed Aug. 9, 193'! I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1. 26

INV ENT OR.

frank A. 131E11 1 ATTORNEY.

Oct. 15, 1940. EN Q 2,218,035

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Aug. 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ji gumllml i' 4 y k I INVENTORQ a N" v flank A/Eeha cm.

BY- I 3 37 ATTORNEY.

. Patented Oct. 15, 1940 'PATEN'l" OFFICE- Claims.

The present invention relates to suction cleaners and particularly to the type wherein, the cleaner is adapted for operation upon floor coverings and also upon elements other than floor 5 coverings such as furniture, drapery, etc.

There are many drawbacks associated with the present day construction in operation of vacuum cleaners of the dual type. While many are properly designed for satisfactory operation on floor w coverings, they are lacking in emciency when applied to other furnishings. Accordingly, it becomes a general object of this invention to provide a vacuum or suction cleaner operable emciently and efi'ectively on both floor coverings and other household effects.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a dual operating, motor driven vacuum cleaner in which the maximum suction eifect is produced in cleaning floor coverings, but in which only part of the suction force available is used for cleaning other articles.

Still another object of the invention is to simultaneously rotate a suction fan and a brush for cleaning floor coverings, but to disconnect the pp brush from rotation whenever the vacuum cleaner is to be used on articles other than floor coverings.

Yet a rurther object of the invention is to boost a normal suction obtainable in cleaning floor coverings while adding to the cleaning efiectiveness by means of a rotatable brush or beater, both the brush and the normal suction being rendered inoperable whenever itis desired to use the booster alone. This object also contemplates a simple control mechanism for performing the stated function of regulating the operability of the brush and usual suction device.-

Another disadvantage of the present day vacuum cleaning mechanism lies in the inability of w the dust receiving bag to separate the dust from its mixture of clean air drawn into the vacuum device upon filling of the bag container with solid materials removed from the article being cleaned. Invariably, this results in a progressive increase in the back pressure against which the fan must operate with detrimental lessening in the cleaning and suction efiects thereof. It is thus another object of my invention to eliminate this tendency to increase the back pressure so that m the cleaner will eficiently remove dirt and the bag separate out and hold this dirt until it becomes full.

Another object of'the invention is to entirely enclose the dirt carrying bag in the machine 55 structure and thereby eliminate obstructions on the exterior of the device which have heretofore prevented flexible motion of the cleaner over the. floor coverings.

It is still a. further object of the invention to enclose the bag in the machine structure and 5 both force air into the bag and withdraw it by pressure created through the agency of a mechanical-arrangement, the bag chamber serving as a conduit between the normal suction device and a booster mechanism. 1

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view, partially in section, of the w suction cleaner.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partially in section, of the cleaner as seen in Fig. i.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 8-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the cleaning device with the auxiliary suction attachment in place.

Fig. 5 is a plan view, parts being broken away, of the mechanism illustrated in-Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the connection between the dust receiving bag and the spiral blower conduit.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the booster impeller.

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the normal impeller.

Fig. 9 is a partially sectional view of the clutch 39 mechanism for connecting the brush operating pulley with the motor shaft.

Fig. 10 is a detailed view of the operating mechanism for shutting ofi the flow of air into the normal impeller. as

Fig. 11 shows a perspective of the slide valve rack used in shutting. oh the flow of air to the normal blower.

The suction cleaning device includes a machine casing to which is adapted for rolling along the floor by means of the carrier wheels H supported from the machine casing by the supports l2 attached to the casing by means of the rivets I3. An operating handle is is pivoted to the machine frame by fastening it to a shaft 95 ro-' tatable at the lower end of the machine structure in the bearing supports it, said shaft not only serving to mount the handle on the cleaning device but also to operate mechanism associated therewith, as will hereinafter appear. 59

For creating suction sumcient to produce the requisite cleaning operations,.an electric motor ll is mounted in the casing having fixed at the lower end of its armature shaft it an impeller 89 whose blades 20 are suitably pitched so as to proan outer bag chamber 25. This chamber has' perforations 26 over substantially its entire surface to permit air drawn in by the blowing de-- vices to escape after it has been separated from m the dirt in the bag.

The suction eifect created by the lower impeller is supplemented or boosted by providing a second impeller 21 fixed on the upper end of the armature shaft of the motor. The blades 28 on is this impeller are pitched at a greater angle to that of the lower one so as to create a greater suction eflect. Its enclosing chamber 2! is attached to the outer bag chamber by the rivets 3|. It will thus be seen that the air blown into the 20 dust bag by the lower impeller is exhausted therefrom, and the suction from the device increased. by the upper impeller which will force the air through the screen 3| to the surroundin atmosphere. As a precautionary measure in ensuring 25 that the air exhausted t r u h the screen 3| will be entirely clean, the filter 32 extends across the inlet to the upper blower chamber being held between the outer bag chamber and the inlet by the same rivets 3O fastening those parts together. so The suction device is also capable of rotating a sweeper brush during floor cleaning operations. The brush 32 is positioned at the front, lower portion of the vacuum cleaner in the nozzle structure 23a pivoted at-its ends in the bearings 34 as provided in the inner surface of the machine casing. A belt pulley 35 is fixed to the brush, and is adapted to be operated from the electric motor armature shaft by means of a belt 28 encircling the brush pulley l and riding over a 40 second pulley 31 rotatably supported on the armature shaft but clutchable for rotation therewith by means of the cooperating clutch elements 38, 39; the former being provided on the pulley and the latter being formed integrally ,5 with the hub of the impeller It. The brush is connectible for rotation whenever the clutch elements are in engagement, such cooperation and disengagement being obtainable by use'of the clutch shift lever 40 fastened to the shaft i5 and w engaging in the shifter groove 4| formed in the surface of the hub of the pulley 31. By oscillating the shaft IS in one direction or the other the brush can be connected for rotation or maintained stationary. as The suction cleaner also is constructed for use on articles other than floor coverings. To aocomplish this purpose an orifice 42 is provided on the casing structure within which a suitable hose 43, of usual construction, is'insertable to a. conduct a mixture of dust and air from the article being cleaned into the bag receptacle. Such mixture passes through the conduit 44, and by the air pressure opens a check valve in the nature of a fiap 45 pivoted to the conduit by the .8 pin 46. That is, when air is being sucked through the conduit 44 this check valve is open. But upon pressure being exerted in the conduit 23 the check valve is maintained closed by such pressure. In this manner, when the vacuum cleaner is being used on floor coverings alone the mixture of dust and air is prevented from blowing through the conduit 44 to-the surrounding atmosphere by the automatic closing of the check valve 46.

To realize this last mentioned operation, only 1| the upper impeller is used in cleaning objects other than floor coverings, since this impeller draws dirt and air into the bag by creating a suction therein, rather than blowing, as is performed by the lower impeller. It thus becomes essential that communication between the lower 5 impeller and the dust bag be disrupted whenever the floor cleaning portion of the apparatus is not to be used. Additionally, when such use is not contemplated there is no need for expending power in rotating the brush; nor is the necessity in for making use of the handle in moving the vacuum cleaner over any surface essential. The handle is therefore movable to a position wherein it does not obstruct cleaning operations'through the use of the hose 4I,'and at the same time in moving to this non-obstructing position it operates the clutch II; I! to disconnect the pulley 31 from functional cooperation with the armature shaft. Such action can be understood from the consideration of Figs. 1 and 4. In Fig. 1 the clutch connects the brush for rotation by the armature shaft and the handle is positioned towards the rear of the cleaningdevice. In moving it to the forward position shown'in Fig. 4, the shaft I5 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction (as seen in Figs. 1 and 4) to move the clutch shifter downwardly and thus disengage the clutch.

Fixed to the shaft ii are the pinions 41 engageable with the racks 4| fixed to the slide 30. valve 49. The side portions of this valve are slidable along the guide rails 50 riveted to the machine structure and serving to hold the valve against the lower impeller casing. This valve has a cut out portion 5i which is adapted to 3d snugly embrace the hub of the impeller; and when the rack is moved towards the armature shaft of the motor it will close off-the inlet opening 22 to the lower blower mechanism. A consideration of Fig. 10 will show clearly how this 4 function is accomplishable. From this figure it will be seen that the inlet opening is always partially closed by the element 52 riveted to the outerpart of the lower chamber and extending to the armature shaft. This element is complementary to the cut out portion of the slide valve so that when the valve is moved towards the front of the vacuum cleaner the sides of the cut out portion will be in intimate contact with the side faces of the closure element 52 and thereby effectively seal the inlet to the lower blower chamber.

Movement of the handle to the front of the vacuum cleaner will also close the outlet from the lower blower chamber. Such outlet is con- 56 .trolled by the slide valve 53 movable across the conduit entrance 23 to prevent a mixture of dirt and air from entering the conduit. The lower end of the valve carries a pin 54 movableaslot 55 formed in the lever 56 which is J to the shaft l5. As this shaft rocks counterclockwise (as seen in Fig. 1), not only will the clutch be disengaged and the inlet valve closed,

but the outlet valve 53 will also be moved up- I wardly to close of! the lower blower entirely. The 55 result is that no power is expended in rotating I the sweeper brush or in delivering a mixture -of air and dust under pressure to the receiving bag; The impeller I! will merely be rotated freely in its enclosing chamber and serve as a counter balance and flywheel to the action of the impeller. 21 moving in the upper chamber to produce a suction in the bag and draw open the back valve 46 so that a mixture of dust and air may enter from any dusting attachment through the hose 7! 3 43. The suction efl'ect producedby the upper blower, will be sufiicient for cleaning articles other than floor coverings, while its combination with the lower blower will produce the greater suction efie'ct essential to from floor coverings.

The dirt containing bag is removable readily from the-vacuum cleaner by opening the cover 51 pivoted to the casing by the hinge 59. Similarly, the outer perforated bag chamber has a pivoted cover 25a, and a handle 25b for raising it so that the bag may be removed. Removal is effected in the usual manner by turning the collar 60 having the bayonet slot 6| cooperating with the pin 52 fixed to the flanged sleeve as proper dirt removal that is threadedly attached to the end of the conduit 23.

Besides functioning as a vacuum producing device the upper fan can 'be used as a blower to force clean air through its outlet and into any attachment that might be afiixed to its outlet opening.

It will thus be seen that a suction cleaner has been provided to create a most efiicient cleaning efiect on fioor coverings while only providing the suction essential to cleaning of objects other than fioor coverings; all at a minimum expenditure of power essential for efilcient operation of the cleaning device.

In cleaning fioor coverings the suction developed by the lower impeller is decreased nearly 50% by the time it reaches the dust bag thus diminishing the eilectiveness of the apparatus. By providing a booster impeller that operates in unison with the lower impeller that creates suction through the dirtbag the diminished suction is boosted to nearly normal. 7

While the invention has been described in connection with the suction cleaner illustrated on the drawings, it is to be understood that such example is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as implying any restrictions upon the following claims. A

I claim: 7

1. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a blower having an inlet communicating with said nozzle,'a motor for operating said blower, a supplementary blower operated by said motor, means providing an air passage between said blowers, means providing an inlet orifice adapted to receive dusting attachments communicating with said air pas sage, and means for closing the inlet passage to said first mentioned blower and cause air to enter said air passage by the action of said supplemental blower when it is desired to connect dusting attachments to the inlet orifice.

2. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a blower having an inlet communicating with said nozzle, a motor for operating said blower, a supplementary blower operable by said motor, means providing an air passage between said blowers, means providing an inlet orifice for receiving dusting attachments opening directly into said air passage, means for closing the inlet to said first-mentioned blower ineflective whereby said dusting attachments will be acted upon only by said supplementary, blower, and means for closing said orifice.

3. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a blower having closing of said inlet an air passage between said blowers, means 'p'roviding an inlet orifice adapted to receive dusting attachments communicating with said air passage, a check valve associated with the inlet orifice, and means for closing the inlet to said first stated blower, whereby when the air passage to the first stated blower is cut ofi the check valve of the inlet orifice will be opened by the action of the supplemental blower.

4. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a blower having an inlet communicating with said nozzle and an outlet, a motor for operating said blower, a supplementary blower operated by said motor, means including a dust receiving bag providing an air passage between the outlet of said first-mentioned blower and the inlet of said supplementary blower, means providing an inlet orifice adapted to receive dusting attachments opening directly into said passage between said blowers, a device for closing said orifice, and means for closing said blower inlet to permit the creation of a suction effect through said orifice upon removal of said closing device.

5. A suction cleaner as defined in claim 4, wherein said last-mentioned means includes instrumentalities for. also closing said blower I outlet.

- an inlet communicating with said nozzle and also an outlet, a rotatable brush in the nozzle, a motor for driving the blower, means connecting said motor with the brush, a supplementary blower driven by said motor, means providing an air passage from the outlet of said first-named blower to said supplementary blower, means providing an inlet orifice adapted to receive dusting attachments communicating with said passage, a check valve in said orifice operable by pressure in said passage to close said orifice and by suction in said passage to open said orifice and means for simultaneously disconnecting said brush from'said motor and closing both the inlet and the outlet of said first-named blower.

8. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a blower having an inlet communicating with said nozzle and also an outlet, valves controlling the opening and and outlet, a rotatable brush in the nozzle, a motor for driving the blower, means including a clutch for driving the brush by the motor, a supplementary blower driven by said motor, means providing an air passage from the outlet of said first-named blower to said supplemental blower, means providing an inlet orifice adapted to receive dusting attachments communicatingwith said passage, a check valve in said orifice operable by pressure in said passage to close said orifice and by suction in said passage to open said orifice, and means for simultaneously disengaging said clutch and closing said inlet and outlet valves.

9. A suction cleaner as defined in claim 8, wherein said last-mentioned means includes a single operating instrumentality for initiating the clutch disengaging and valve closing motions. l0. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle at its lower region, a dust collecting bag within the casing, a brush rotatable within said nozzle, an electric motor within the casing having an impeller on each end of its shaft, each of said impellers being rotatable within respective blower chambers, one of said chambers having an inlet opening communicating with said nozzle and an outlet, the other chamber having an inlet opening communicating with said bag and an outlet through the casing, a conduit between the outlet of the first chamber and the bag, said casing being provided with an inlet orifice communicating with said conduit, a check valve in said inlet orifice operable by pressure in said passage to close said orifice and by suction in said passage to open said orifice, means including a clutch for connecting said brush with said motor, respective valves for opening and 5 closing the inlet and outlet of said first chamber, a handle pivoted to the casing for moving it along a floor surface, and means connecting said handle with said clutch and respective valves for disengaging the clutch and closing the valves. 10

FRANK ARTHUR BENSON. 

